City of Miami to Launch 5,000 Ethereum NFTs with TIME, Mastercard, Salesforce

Miami is making NFTs.

The city of Miami’s Mayor Francis X. Suarez shared plans Thursday to release 5,000 Ethereum NFTs later this year. Miami is partnering with TIME magazine publisher Time USA, Mastercard, and Salesforce to make it happen.

The NFTs—unique blockchain tokens that signify ownership—are being designed by 56 different Miami artists “representing the city’s 56 square mile area,” according to a city press release.

Time USA will help define the city’s NFT strategy as well as execute the project, while Mastercard will offer Miami NFT holders exclusive benefits like special event access at restaurants and private cultural tours in the city.

Salesforce will manage the NFTs’ minting and primary sales process with its new NFT Cloud platform, a yet-to-be-released Salesforce product that allows brands to mint and sell NFTs.

TIME President Keith Grossman, who is also on Salesforce’s Web3 Advisory Board, told Decrypt that the Miami NFT project is TIME’s first foray into helping other entities deploy NFT projects—and hinted that more may be coming soon.

He said the Miami NFTs are all about giving holders the ability to unlock unique experiences.

“The artwork will reflect the tremendous diversity represented within the city of Miami,” Grossman added.

Like El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele—whose passion for Bitcoin is unwavering—Mayor Suarez appears unfazed by the current crypto bear market, which has led some crypto companies to lay off staff and file for bankruptcy.

“We will continue to employ these new technologies to support our existing businesses while attracting new ones,” Suarez said of crypto and NFTs in a statement. 

Suarez’s office has not yet responded to Decrypt’s request for comment.

Miami’s Ethereum NFTs—planned for a December launch after Ethereum’s move to proof of stake—aren’t the city’s first foray into crypto and Web3. Suarez launched MiamiCoin (MIA), an altcoin that the city would hold in a wallet and others could buy, back in August of last year. 

It generated about $8 million in revenue for the city in just two months, but is now down a shocking 98.9% from its all-time high, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Since then, Miami has locked up or staked most of its MIA to earn a yield in Bitcoin, and shared plans to give an unspecified amount of said yield back to Miami residents.

From altcoins to NFTs, it looks like Miami isn’t giving up on crypto anytime soon.